Lesson plan - Study Island



|Reading Lesson: Analyzing Sources |Grade Level: 7 |

|Lesson Summary: Students will learn the meaning of primary and secondary sources. Students will write a personal narrative as a primary source. Students will |

|analyze a primary source selection and write about the significance of the information found in the selection. Advanced students will write about Thomas Jefferson.|

|Struggling students will identify one important detail from the selection. |

|Lesson Objectives: |

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|The students will know… |

|that primary sources are writings by an author, and secondary sources are writings about an author. |

|that primary sources often contain information about an author’s background or personal history. |

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|The students will be able to… |

|identify key details in primary sources. |

|write primary source material. |

|Learning Styles Targeted: |

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|Visual |

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|Auditory |

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|Kinesthetic/Tactile |

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|Pre-Assessment: |

|Have students identify the distinction between primary and secondary sources. |

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|Have students identify primary sources they are familiar with. (diaries, letters, autobiographies) |

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|Note students who do not know what a source is and/or have trouble differentiating primary and secondary sources. |

|Whole-Class Instruction |

|Materials Needed: PowerPoint slides*, a copy of the selection* for each student, paper, and pencils |

|Procedure: |

|Presentation |

|Have students choose a particular grade/school year and write at least a two-paragraph description of it. Tell students they are creating a primary source because |

|they are writing about themselves. |

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|Assign partners. Ask partners to exchange and read the descriptions. Partners should list five things learned about the author from the description. |

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|Have students list five pieces of outside information that might help them to better understand the piece. Examples might include: a history or description of the |

|school, a history or description of the community or neighborhood, a history or description of any historical events mentioned in the piece, information about any |

|ethnic group or cultural celebrations mentioned in the piece, and any other information relating to cultural descriptions such as music, clothing, television, or |

|movies. |

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|Finally, ask students how the descriptions might be useful to others if they were published. Elicit that they might be helpful for anyone who wanted to know what |

|it was like to be a student at the time mentioned in the description. |

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|Ask a gifted reader to read the selection*. Have the other students follow along. Ask students whether this is a primary or secondary source and why. (primary, |

|because it is written by Jefferson himself) Ask students what they learned about Jefferson as a person. Elicit that he was interested in learning about his family,|

|that he had an interest in history, that he knew a lot about Great Britain, and that he wanted to share what he knew with his family. |

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|Clarify any confusing details, such as “pl” and “def” stand for plaintiff and defendant, opposite sides in a law case; and that the Virginia Company was the group |

|of British nobility and investors who funded the expedition from England that resulted in the Virginia colony, forerunner to the state of Virginia. |

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|Provide/review some basic facts about Jefferson: He was born in 1743 in Virginia; was the prinicple author of the Declaration of Independence; served as president |

|from 1801 to 1809; lived for much of his adult life at Monticello, his estate in Virginia; and died in 1826. |

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|Show PowerPoint slides*. Project PowerPoint list of questions with magnifying glass beside each. Have students discuss and answer each question then reveal the |

|next slide with the answer. |

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|Guided Practice |

|Ask students to write a paragraph describing the significance of the selection and how they might use it for writing and research. |

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|Independent Practice |

|Tell students that based upon what they learned in this selection, they will write a paragraph about what else they would like to learn about Thomas Jefferson, the|

|author. |

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|Closing Activity |

|Ask students to share which PowerPoint question seemed most important in understanding the source material. Use the answers as an exit slip from class. |

|Advanced Learner |

|Materials Needed: paper and pencils |

|Procedure: |

|Have students write a short story about the author, Thomas Jefferson, using the details of the selection. |

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|Ask volunteers to read their stories. |

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|Discuss why the stories are different. |

|Struggling Learner |

|Materials Needed: paper and pencils |

|Procedure: |

|Read the selection again to the students. |

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|Have students identify one important detail from the selection. |

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|Assist students in writing about why the detail was important to Jefferson and his family. |

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|As an extension, ask each student to share an important detail about his or her own family. |

*see supplemental resources

   

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